Halloween costume of Anne Frank pulled from internet

Online costume company removes Halloween costume of Anne Frank following backlash on social media.

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Elad Benari, 17/10/17 05:16

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An online costume company has removed a Halloween costume of Holocaust diarist Anne Frank from its U.S. and European websites, JTA reported Monday.

Holloweencostumes.com, whose website is run by the Minnesota-based company Fun.com, pulled the costumes on Sunday after a backlash on social media, the Jewish news agency said.

The costume, which can be seen on social media in screen grabs, included a long sleeve blue button-up dress, a brown shoulder bag and a green beret.

The company described Frank as a World War II hero and an inspiration, adding that “we can always learn from the struggles of history.”

“There r better ways 2 commemorate Anne Frank. This is not one. We should not trivialize her memory as a costume,” tweeted Carlos Galindo-Elvira, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Arizona.

Company spokesman Ross Walker Smith in a tweet apologized “for any offense” the costume caused.

“We sell costumes not only for Halloween season, such as school projects and plays. We offer several types of historically accurate costumes – from prominent figures to political figures, to television characters,” he tweeted.

“We take feedback from customers very seriously. We have passed along the feedback regarding this costume, and it has been removed from the website at this time,” added Walker Smith.

This is not the first time that inappropriate Halloween costumes have caused outrage. In 2015, photos on social media showed two party-goers in central Florida dressed up as Adolf Hitler and Frank, causing backlash.

Also that year, controversy erupted after Halloween costumes of an IDF soldier and an “Arab” latex nose were sold online.